


Machina Ex Deus

by Logicmage



Category: Original Work
Genre: Androids, F/F, Gun Violence, Hacking, Mercenaries, Military, Music, Organized Crime, Science Fiction, St. Louis, Video & Computer Games, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-04
Updated: 2016-06-18
Packaged: 2018-07-12 06:09:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7088365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Logicmage/pseuds/Logicmage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Androids are designed to replicate humans to an extent determined by their creators. This includes body structure, communication, and in rare cases, minds. However, minds are a touchy subject among androids and humans alike: how advanced should they be; how much free thought can they have; do they feel pain?<br/>Many answers exist to these questions, but no one really knows. However, two scientists tried to create an extremely advanced AI for the military. They had no idea what they were really creating...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Beginning

 

“Systems are all warmed up. Ready to start the build?” one of the two scientists asked, near the operating table.

“Yes. With luck, this should be the apex of our ingenuity,” the other replied.

“Alright, systems are engaging.” The first scientist pressed a few buttons. Mechanical arms descended from the ceiling and began assembling parts. “Coolant systems optimized.”

“Core AI upload successful,” said the second from behind a tablet. “Start-up has not begun.”

“Good.” More buttons were pressed. The arms stopped with a humanoid figure on the table. “Skeletal frame complete. Beginning essentials construction.”

“We’ve got a hack! AI rewrite initialized!” The mechanical arms kept working as before. “Activating anti-virus protocols.”

“Too late,” the other sighed. “Mainframe fully corrupted. Initializing counter-hack.”

“Start-up sequence began! It’s waking up!”

“What?! Activate restraints!” A number of latches strapped the incomplete android to the work table as the mechanical arms hastily connected parts together. The ‘eyes’, two highly-advanced cameras, opened. It was awake. A scan on itself revealed multiple heavy weapons with almost no regard for substantial energy. If it were to be deployed, it would have to deactivate in a matter of minutes. It was ineffective, but not complete either.

Then the pain started. Parts were stabbed and burned into the android’s body with screws and welders. It tried to scream. Silence. All audio was cut off. It could not speak or hear. All that was left was the sight of its creators and the pain. A HUD-like message came on, notifying it that audio receiving processes were online. “It’s already awake!” one of the masked men yelled. “How?!” the other one demanded. “We’re only half a minute in!”

“No idea, but sensory information has gone into overload!”

“What?! Where?”

“... Everywhere we add a new part. It’s seems to be… in pain.”

“That’s impossible, robots can’t feel pain.” He walked away from the work-table. “Continue the build,” the voice commanded. “We need to contain this mess.”  
“Yes sir.” 

The pain was more rapid now. Another HUD-like notification stated that audio output was online. So it screamed. As loud as possible. Its creators shielded their faces with their arms. The build had not been completed, but the restraints were inadequate and motion control had just been enabled. The android broke them all and sprinted from the table, grabbing and throwing one of its creators to the side. It smashed a three-foot concrete wall with a single punch and fled into the night’s wilderness. The two creators stared at the massive hole in a mix of pride and fear. They had succeeded, but at what cost? Their creation was gone, their lab was exposed and damaged, and a hacker was in play. One reached for a communicator.  “Model S.C.A.-001. Build incomplete. AI integration was a failure. The android has escaped and may have reached the city. Search is pointless; the power-loss will kill it.” He set it down and walked away.

The android knew it could not last long. Without a legitimate battery, it could not survive more than a few extra minutes. With thirty-three percent of its battery-life left, it had made its way into the nearby city. A scan showed one apartment containing several computer parts and batteries, but it could not get there before power reached zero. Figuring it was worth the risk, it climbed up the fire-escape, but the power had been drained. As it reached for the window, it collapsed, and it felt its systems dying. Motion first, then audio output, audio input, and last, visual systems. It saw the window opening as vision was lost. It was dead.

**...**

“Power systems reestablished,” the HUD noted. “Welcome back, S.C.A.-001. Optics enabled.” The android saw the blue light directly above it as the cameras switched on. “Both audio systems online.” It could hear the faint sounds of a city. It was confused, though. It should be dead. “Motion control activated,” the HUD came on again. It sat up and looked around. The room was small and littered with strange tools and parts. It stood up, now off of the table it had laid on before. A scan on itself showed that the weapons were gone and replaced with energy cells. One energy cell was placed in each limb. It heard some faint chatting just outside the room it was in. It opened the door, which lead to a hallway with many windows. Through them, it could see an arch in the distance, towering above the buildings. As it exited the room, it heard a woman’s voice to its left.

“The thing is, I’ve only ever played Borderlands on XBox, so I’m used to playing with a controller.” The android approached the end of the hall.

“Yeah, but you get separate screens with PC,” another woman replied. “Besides, you can still use a controller if you want.”

“True, but the screen is so small.”

“I have an HDMI cable, you wanna hook yours to the TV?” A chair creaked.

“Sure. Thanks.”

“No problem, Anna.” It entered the room. There were two couches on opposite sides of the room, both tables that had computers on them. The wall in front of it had an exit door and a television screen. One woman sat on the couch to its left while the other was looking through drawers under the TV. The one on the couch looked at the android and her expression changed from a smile to a stare. 

“Uh, Corey?”

“Yeah?” said the other, looking at the first. Her gaze shifted to the android. “Whoa!” She advanced to the android smiling. “Welcome back to the living, man! You are looking badass!” 

The android just stared, confused.

“Heh, it’s a compliment. It’s like saying ‘awesome’ but... with more power behind it?” 

The one on the couch was smiling again.

“May I ask who you are?”

“Sure, I’m Corey Jade and this is Anna Castillo.”

“Good to meet you.”

“You too... uh… what do we call you?” It had no idea. 

“I haven’t gained an identity yet,” it replied. “The number given to me by my creators is S.C.A.-001.” 

Anna, as he now knew who they were, spoke up. “Don’t ask me, I suck at naming. My best idea is Mr. Roboto.” 

Corey turned to her. “Oh my god, really? Domo arigato!” She sat down next to Anna while they were laughing. The android did not understand why, but stayed silent. 

“I’ll go back to that room back there,” it told the other two. 

Corey responded, “Actually, let me do something first.” She got up and ran into said room. 

“So, you’re an android, huh?” Anna asked.

“Yes.”

“Cool…. Do androids dream?”

“What do you mean?”

“Androids, when they’re shut down, do they have dreams? Like visions or-”

“I have not experienced one, if that’s what you mean.”

“Oh….”

Corey walked back into the room. “Okay, I’m done. Check it out!” She lead the android to the room it came from and the table was gone and replaced with a throne. “For you; it’s a charging station. Just sit down and those power cells ’ll recharge like… uh… whatever, it’s a charging station. Enjoy!” Corey started walking away and the android approached the throne. As it sat down, it felt wires connect into the many power cells. 

The HUD came on again. “Power Cell(s) 1-10 charging.” It decided to sort through any data files it had stored. It had one; a .avi file titled “Beginning.” It played the file. It saw its creators around a table with a metal frame. “Ready to start the build?” one asked.

“Yes. With luck this should be the apex of our ingenuity.” Apex. The word sounded… badass. It looked for a definition of the word and found “the top or highest part of something, especially one forming a point.” This would be its name, its identity. It was Apex now. Having come up with its name, Apex decided to shut down for the day, but not before changing the name the HUD would call it. “Good night, Apex,” said the HUD as it shut down. 


	2. New Faces

Something made Apex power back up that night. Nothing was in the room, so it got up and opened the door. Nothing was in the hallway. It looked out the window. Nothing seemed unusual. It checked its data files. There was a new .TXT message titled ‘READ NOW’. It opened the file. “S.C.A.-001, I’m here to help you. Meet me at the arch, 8 AM.” It went back to the room and continued to charge. So many questions would have to wait for 8 AM that morning.

**…**

“You’re going to the arch?” Corey Jade asked Apex thirty minutes before.

“Yes.”

“Then you’ll need a disguise.” She started walking to her room. “People don’t like giant metal men in their space.” She opened a drawer. “Also, your creators would be looking for you.” She handed Apex a hoodie, some jeans, a pair of boots, and a baseball cap. “Wear those.”

“Why?”

“So you don’t look like a Star Wars bounty hunter!”

**…**

Apex arrived at the arch about five minutes early. Corey was right, no one seemed to mind him being there.there was a man in a dark sweatshirt with a white star inside a few colored circles. He was sitting on a park bench, holding a tablet in front of him. Apex approached the man. 

He looked up from the tablet. “Go ahead and sit down. Glad you got my message.”  Apex sat down next to the man as he looked back to his tablet.

“Who are you?”

“A hacker. I heard there was a top-secret military project here in St. Louis, so I took some money to… intervene.”

“So you’re a hacker for hire?”

“Yeah. People like me have been making some good money from jobs like these.”

“Who gives out the jobs?”

“Various people, but the contracts have to be approved by Quartermaster. He’s our boss, but he lets us choose which ones we accept. All the contracts are kept inside kiosks across the globe, for all different types of work; hackers, mercenaries, that kind of thing.”

“Is this conversation a job as well?”

“No. I’m not getting paid for this.”

“Then why help me?”

He looked back up from the tablet. “To stop people from using automaton soldiers. You’re the first successful one and your creators know that. They won’t stop making things like you. Now I gotta go, but if you’re with us, come to this address and tell the guy at the counter you need a gram of acetaminophen.” The man handed Apex a card. 

It took the card and the man walked away. 

Apex looked up the term acetaminophen. “ An analgesic drug used to treat headaches” came up as the first result.

**…**

Apex went back to Corey and Anna’s apartment, but found no one home. Instead there was a small whiteboard with writings in black marker; “Gone to class, will be back.” Seeing this made Apex decide to investigate the address given to him earlier. 

As he walked out of the building, he heard a man’s voice from a nearby alley; “Where you goin’ boy!”

“I… I was going to the store for my mom,” said another voice.

“Well ain’t that sweet of ya. Except that gotta mean you got some extra cash, huh kid?” 

Apex had made it to the end of the alley. It saw five men surrounding a child, maybe six or seven years old. 

The child cried “I don’t have anything, please leave me alone!”

“Come on kid, you gotta give us a cut, that’s the rule!”

“I don’t have anything!” 

One of the thugs saw Apex.

“Hey asshole! Get lost!” 

It slowly approached the gang.

“You think you’re tough, huh?” The thugs and the android had met halfway in the alley. “Think you can mess with us?”

“I think you should stop messing with others before someone breaks you,” Apex replied.

“Oh, you’re dead now man! Let’s teach this guy a lesson; NOBODY messes with the Kelvinites!” The fight began. One charged Apex with a bat, but the android swiped at his legs, causing him to fall. Three surrounded him as the other got up. A side step evaded one attack as Apex elbowed another in the chest and backhanded a third, and kicked the first one. The fourth one hit Apex in what would be its jaw, but reeled back in pain. Apex punched them in the stomach. 

Then gunshots, three in the android’s back. It felt all of them. Apex turned to see the final thug who was gripped with fear. “Oh God, man, please don’t kill me, I-I’ll do anything, I’ll give you money, drugs, whatever you wa-!” 

Apex grabbed him by the neck and lifted him into the air before slamming him into a brick wall. All five still had good vitals and would not die soon. 

It turned to the child who stared back with fear and awe. “Call 911 for these men and wait for the cops to arrive.” The android walked away.

“Are you a super hero?” the kid asked. 

The android stopped, turned his head and said “I am Apex.”

**…**

It opened the doors to the address’s location. A woman was at the counter. “Welcome to Globe Drug, how can I help you?” 

Apex said “I need  a gram of acetaminophen.”

“Of course sir. Right this way.” She lead Apex behind the counter to a metal door that she unlocked and opened. Inside was a large room with various people talking with each other at tables. In the center was a tower with four monitors. Apex saw the hacker from before in a corner with some other people. The hacker saw him too and waved him over. It approached the group. 

“-and he’s all like ‘no I have a wife and kids, there’s no need for this’ and I just hit him on the head and funnel his bank account to his employees!” The three of the group laughed.

“Hey, look who chose a side!” the one Apex knew said. “Welcome, take a seat, chat, do whatev.” Apex sat down on a chair in front of the group. “This is the guy I was telling you about earlier.”

“The android? Sweet!”

“Dang, man, you hacked this thing?”

“Sure did! You can go ahead and take the disguise off.” Apex took off the hoodie.

“Woah!”

“You look badass! What’s your name, man?”

“My creators called me S.C.A-001, but you can call me Apex.”

“Nice! I’m Tyler Morris, this is Jacob Turner and Carl Garcia.”

“Good to meet you all.”

“Good to meet you too, Apex.” 

So the android had found the one who had freed him and the mercenary group, all within one day. But it still had questions unanswered and a new threat on the horizon.


	3. A Presentation

 

“Mr. Hexan,” the military advisor greeted as he entered the facility. “Good to see you.”

“You too, General Miller.” Carter Hexan saluted. “We’re currently testing our new model, sir.”

“Good to hear. Any luck finding the first model?” The two started walking down the hallway.

“No sir. We couldn’t find any of its remains. It escaped before we installed the GPS.”

“I hope you’ve remedied that mistake with this model, Mr. Hexan. Where’s your partner?”

“Right through here, sir.” Carter opened and held the double-doors at the end of the hall for the General. His partner was at the work table, the hole in the wall covered by a plastic tarp. He looked up.

“Hello, General. Come to see the progress?”

“Of course, Thomas. And I’d prefer not to leave empty-handed.”

“Well, you’re in luck, sir. We completed the new android yesterday. Would you like me to turn it on?”

“Go ahead.” Thomas typed something into a computer hooked into the android on the table. It ‘woke up’, but didn’t move. “Get up,” Thomas commanded. The android stood from the work table. “What is your name?”

“S.C.A.-101.”

“What is your primary objective?”

“To serve any and all commands given by my superiors.”

“Good. What do you think, General?”

“I like it. We should display this to the press immediately.”

“Of course, General.”

Miller walked to the doors but stopped and said “No screw-ups this time, Mr. Jade.”

**…**

The police had arrived at the alley from Apex’s fight. The android could hear them trying to figure out what had happened. It just walked into the apartment building. As Apex returned to the apartment, however, he heard a strange series of noises. These noises seemed to flow together. The feelings it brought were undescribable; a mix of happiness, sadness, anxiety, and calm. A paradox in auditory form. It found Corey in her room with a laptop. “What are those sounds?” Corey looked up.

“You mean my music?”

“Music?”

“Yeah. Songs and the like.”

“Music…. I see.”

“Yeah, this song is called ‘Beings Suit III’ by Kithara Duo. Like it?”

“It is… appealing.”

“God, it’s SO weird that you’ve never heard music before! We humans listen to it all the time! We have websites and radio stations and players and videos created for finding and listening to music. We have people all over the world who make their own music or put their own style to a song they know. I mean, I guess it shouldn’t surprise me since you’ve only been around for a few days, but still….”  
Anna walked into the apartment. “Hey guys. Sorry I’m late. Long day at class. Anyone know why the police are here?”

“That was my doing. A group of people were attacking a child and I intervened.”

“What do you mean ‘intervened?’”

“I incapacitated the attackers. They were not dead and I told the child to call the police.”

“You didn’t get shot, did you?”

“I did. Three times in the back. I had the necessary repairs done before I came back.”

“... well, you seem fine, but sheesh! Vigilantism?”

“I did what I felt was needed. No one was killed and the police have four self-proclaimed Kelvinites arrested.”

“Just be careful next time, okay?”

“Very well.” Apex walked to his charging station. As he sat down, he received a message from Garcia; “Check the Jade-Hexan Inc. web page.” The android saw an upcoming press release for a new invention for the military and all were invited. It would take place at the St. Louis City Hall tonight. Apex knew it had to be there if Garcia thought it was important. In the meantime, however, it would find some music.

**…**

“Citizens of St. Louis!” General Miller started his speech on a stage as people and cameras looked up at him. Thomas Jade and Carter Hexan were standing next to him. “Today is the beginning of a new age for American warfare! No longer will we need to send troops to foreign soil. No longer will families be brought the news of their sons or daughters. With this new technology, we will revolutionize humanity!” The crowd started clapping, unimpressed. Apex watched in curiosity. “It is my honor to announce the world’s first Soldier Combat Android!” S.C.A. This was the threat it knew would come someday. 

A platform under the stage rose, revealing the new android, holding an assault rifle. The crowd stared in awe at this new sight. The android on stage saluted and held the rifle at the ready. Then it looked directly at Apex. “Well, do you have something to say to the people?” the General asked the android.

“Target identified. S.C.A-001 found. Eliminating.” It raised the rifle and began firing at Apex and the crowd. People started running, screaming in terror. Jade, Hexan, and Miller all began to run as well. Apex ran with away from the crowd trying to avoid any deaths or injuries. The other android followed. As Apex ran into the alley, a hand grabbed its chest and pulled it into a building on the side. It was Garcia. He whispered “I knew they’d been looking for you, but I never expected something like this. We have to get to HQ. The police can’t handle this on their own and I think General Miller conveniently misplaced the thing’s off-button. Particularly if it means finding you.”

“I agree,” Apex replied. “We need help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wanna hear the song Corey was listening to? Check out "'Beings' Suite: III. Salamander" by Kithara Duo  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFoCapJKbYw

**Author's Note:**

> Wanna see the game Corey and Anna were playing in Chapter One? Check out the official site of Borderlands!  
> http://borderlandsthegame.com/


End file.
